Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Moving Forward: The Next 500

I never would have thought it; 500 posts! I reran the Autism Is... project yesterday and this may be a tradition now on each 100th post as if you ever want or need inspiration just read the comments on that page.

Over the Christmas weekend I began to get my usual seasonal blues. Through the darkness I kept thinking about the 500th post and I wondered what I was going to do for it. I mean, 500. That is a large number. How on Earth did I get to that number? On top of that you, my dear readers, have kept with me through the highs, lows, and hijinks between.

Speaking of lows, Christmas Day was really low for me but still post 500 was looming. I had several ideas, but in the end rerunning the Autism Is project was the only answer because it gives everyone a voice. As I said, read the comments and get inspired and know you are not alone.

My blog is usually about the events in my life and how the spectrum can make things easier or harder for me, but in the end it is typically about me. This isn't a bad thing because I am able to describe the emotions of the ordeals I go through. Thinking about this I see this as a puzzle piece. I like that the spectrum is described by the puzzle piece because each person is unique. Each person on the spectrum is their own puzzle and I am doing my best to describe my little section of life on the other side of the wall. When working on a puzzle though it is best to know what the whole section looks like and I hope that, by reading the responses on the project it gives just that small look into other thoughts and lives.

So, moving forward, the next 100 posts for me might be most important. The April 3rd release date of Finding Kansas is nearing, I've got my year in review posts coming up, and January is looking to be a VERY busy month for me with lots of presentations across Saint Louis and Southwest Missouri.

To end this, as I start the march to 1,000 blog posts, I want to thank you! In my darkest time on Christmas Day I was aggravated at myself for my weaknesses. I looked at everyone else on the "normal" side of the wall and I yearned to know what that is like. Of course, I can want that all day long and that won't change the fact of who I am, and then I remembered I AM happy with who I am. Right then and there I thanked God for the diagnosis because if I didn't know I probably would be much worse off. In fact, I don't really want to think about the course my life would have taken. But yes, as I came out of that thought process I was elated to remember that you are still with me. Some of you are family, others are fellow workers at TouchPoint, but most of you I probably have never met. Some of you have left comments, and my sister says I do a poor job on responding to comments (in my defense I did say, "How do I respond to a comment if there isn't a question?), but nonetheless you still come back and take precious time out of your day to read my thoughts. What an honor that is and I know that a lot of you get a better understanding of the spectrum from my words even though I am oblivious as to how I do this, but still I understand that taking time out of the day is something that is hard to do in this day in age so again thank you. As I began the 2nd 500 posts I want to close this with the words that I ended post #1 with:

Over the course of the next few weeks, months, and hopefully years I hope to open your eyes as to what's new in the world of autism, and to also let you in on some of the daily issues I face being behind this wall.

So welcome to my blog and I hope you will have as much enjoyment reading this as I will have providing it to you. Enjoy!

Thanks for being there for the first 500 and trust me when I say that the enjoyment that I get in bringing you this blog is greater now than it ever was.

Congrats for having reached the 500 mark! Thank you for sharing your insights and please keep doing so. You're an inspiration to us all. I'd love to see one of your presentations in real life sometime.

Who I Am

Hello, my name is Aaron Likens and thanks for visiting my blog. I am the Autism Ambassador for Easter Seals Midwest and also the author of the book "Finding Kansas. My passion in life is to raise the awareness and understanding of the autism spectrum through this blog as well as the many presentations I give. For myself, as much as it is a passion, it is personal because I was given the diagnosis of Asperger's when I was 20. Back then there wasn't much info and I fell into a pit of despair. I stayed there for 15 months but then I eventually discovered myself through writing and now here I am and here you are on my blog. There are well over 1,000 posts on this blog as I started blogging in March of 2010. So whether you're reading today's blog, or are skimming through stories of the past, I hope that your time here gives you a better glimps of what living life on the autism spectrum, or, "other side of the wall" is like. If you do like what you see please follow me on Facebook as that's where I share when I've written a new blog as well as announcing where I will be presenting. Please note that the opinions expressed on this blog are mine and may not be reflective of Easter Seals Midwest.

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The Aspie Traveler

The Aspie Traveler: Tokyo

Finding Kansas Revisited

To mark 10 years since I started writing my book I did a blog series with my thoughts from today on what I wrote then. This was the first time I ever read anything I had ever written.

The Sunglasses Experiment

I ran a sunglasses experiment to judge why eye contact is so difficult. I wore them for about 15 days, then I switched back to my normal glasses to see how big of a difference there was. By clicking my picture you can be taken to the page that has the complete experiement all in one place.

About Me

I am the Autism Ambassador for Easter Seals Midwest and also the author of Finding Kansas: Living and Decoding Asperger's Syndrome. My passion in life is raising awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorders and to help the world understand how the mind of a person on the spectrum works. I can do this because I am on the spectrum (Asperger's).
I was diagnosed at the age of 20 and after the diagnosis a lot of my quirks made sense. I didn't understand who I was though and went into a deep depression. Through this depression though I became very keen on my inner self and I started to write. I wrote and I wrote and before I knew it I wrote a book.
5 years later I am, among other things, giving presentations to police, teachers, and parents and am now starting my quest on making the best blog possible!
The views on this blog are mine and may not be reflective of Touch Point Autism Services.
If you have any questions, or comments, or have an article idea please email me at aaron.likens@yahoo.com.